1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a process for developing a direct reversal silver halide photographic light-sensitive material which provides enhanced reversal sensitivity.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
A number of direct reversal silver halide photographic light-sensitive materials or processing methods therefor have heretofore been known. However, in most of them, a light-sensitive material in which silver halide grains have been provided previously with fogging nuclei is imagewise exposed through a positive image to thereby destroy the fogging nuclei in proportion to the exposure by the action of positive holes, halogen atoms or molecules, dye oxides (dye positive holes), etc. produced by exposure, and subsequently subjecting the material to a developing step to form directly a positive (reversal) image on the light-sensitive material.
Therefore, in this type of direct reversal photographic light-sensitive materials, it is required for the previously formed fogging nuclei to be easily destroyed by the positive holes, halogen atoms or molecules, dye oxides, etc. and to have high development activity in order to provide enhanced reversal sensitivity. However, in general, fogging nuclei with high development activity tend to be difficult to destroy, and hence it is extremely difficult under existing circumstances to form fogging nuclei appropriate for a direct reversal photographic light-sensitive material with a high sensitivity. In fact, the sensitivity of a conventional direct reversal photographic light-sensitive material is less than 1/100 of that of a usual silver halide light-sensitive material.
Hence, to enhance the development activity of fogging nuclei without complicating the development processing step the addition to an emulsion of various compounds which are used in intensifying latent images, such as a gold compound, together with a fogging nuclei-forming agent might be considered. However, using such an approach, the fogging nuclei are difficult to destroy, and hence it is impossible to enhance markedly the reversal sensitivity.